


Ingredients for Happiness

by WakeUpDreaming



Category: Scorpion (TV 2014)
Genre: 90s, Baking, Dancing, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Music, Wedding Talk, post 3x18
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-01
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-27 14:49:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10026614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WakeUpDreaming/pseuds/WakeUpDreaming
Summary: Happy shouldn't be surprised that an attempt at cake baking with Ralph, Toby, and Ada goes a little bit awry. But, still. She had hope.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Combination follow up (because Ada is amazing and I needed to write her!) and prompt fill, for the lovely anon who prompted me "Quintis + double chocolate cake," because this was beyond fun! Thank you! Thank you to my lovely Shan for helping me with the title!

“What in god’s name happened in here?” Toby asks, stopping right before walking into the kitchen.

Happy slowly turns to him, trying to pretend she isn’t covered in cocoa powder, frosting, and just a hint of shame. “We were baking.”

Toby purses his lips as he leans against the door frame. “Really? Because usually the ingredients go in the batter instead of…” He gestures to her and Ralph. “On the bakers. If you call yourselves bakers.”

“We had a minor miscalculation,” Ralph says, and Happy hopes Toby doesn’t notice the egg yolk smeared across his shirt.

“ _A_ minor miscalculation?” Toby asks. “It looks like the atomic bomb of Food Network went off in here.”

“Not as drastic as a bomb,” Ralph says, and Happy waits for him to explain exactly how they got here, “um, I thought I knew a better place to open the flour than the one marked ‘tear here’, and then I realized,” Happy and Toby follow Ralph’s gaze to the scene of the crime, “it had a tab. And I broke the tab open.”

Ada giggles from the tablet prepped next to Happy’s toaster over.

“Oh, hey Ada!” Toby says. “I see you’re back at home.”

She nods. “Happy set me up with a pretty cool camera I can use to FaceTime any time I want.” She turns the camera so she can at Happy. “And this way I get to bake without getting messy.”

“I put you in charge of finding the best recipe for my wedding cake,” Happy says, shaking her head, “and this is how you repay me.”

“Wedding cake?” Toby asks. “You think you’re going to bake my wedding cake?”

“Your wedding cake?” Happy and Ada say simultaneously.

Ralph dissolves into laughter while Toby drops his head into his hand.

“How,” he mumbles, “how are there two of you.”

“Because the world needed a double dose of reality,” Ada says. “Now, guys. This time try to put the cocoa powder in without tripping over a chair.”

“I didn’t trip!” Ralph argues. “I – I –” He stops himself. “Yeah, okay.”

Happy steps away as Ada instructs Ralph on the next steps of the recipe. “Sorry I ruined our kitchen,” she mutters as she walks next to Toby.

He’s clearly doing his best not to laugh as he presses a kiss to her forehead. “We’ll fix it when we need to,” he replies. “Oh, god, cocoa powder does not taste great without sugar.”

“Huh?”

“Your face,” he explains. “Your entire face is cocoa powder.”

Happy touches her fingertips to her face, and, when she pulls them away, her fingers are covered. “Damn it.”

He grins at her. “Oh, come on, baby,” and Happy can tell this is about to be beyond cheesy, “you’ve always been more bitter than sweet.”

“Never speak again.” Happy stands on her toes and kisses him, though, because she can and because she knows it will make him give her that half-brained smile that makes her heart melt.

“Okay,” he says, laughing a little bit.

“You guys are gross,” Ada shouts from her tablet.

“I know!” Ralph adds. “You should have seen them at Christmas.”

“Just wait until the wedding,” Toby says. “We’re going to be super gross. Mushy vows, ridiculously romantic first dance –” the way he stops when he looks into Happy’s eyes makes her heart do a weird sort of tap dance, “and that’s not even starting to think about the first kiss as a married couple.”

“Again,” Ada deadpans, “gross.” And then she frowns. “Oh, um. That reminds me. My dad was wondering – do you guys want me to FaceTime into the wedding?”

“Oh, better than that,” Toby says, and Happy wonders where he’s going with this, “you’re going to be there. In a bridesmaid’s dress.”

Happy looks at him, bemused.

Toby rolls his eyes. “Yeah, I know, she and Paige have different styles, but they’ll make it work. Paige’ll get one for Ada that works great.” He looks back to Ada with an eye roll. “Anyway, as much as I’d never admit it to him, I have faith in anything Walter does. He’ll find someone who’s a perfect match for you.” And Happy watches as Ada goes from cynicism to hesitant belief. Toby’s got a way like that. “He’ll figure out how to get your immune system back. He will.”

Ada’s quiet for a moment, just like the rest of them. “You think so?”

“Again, don’t tell him,” Toby says, “but I know so.”

Ada lets a little smile appear on her lips. “You know what I don’t think is going to happen?”

“What?” Happy asks.

“You and Ralph making a decent cake.”

Toby falls into laughter.

“Hey!” Happy says. “We’re not – graceful. But it’s going to taste good.”

“Well, you’re going to have to do a lot of work to prove that,” Toby adds. “Namely adding it together and putting it in the oven.”

“We’re getting there,” Happy insists, “but somebody interrupted and began distracting us.”

“Hey!” Toby argues. “I walked into the home I share with you not expecting the place to look like a train wreck. That’s not interrupting – that’s inquiring as to why the place looks like a disaster.”

Happy grins. “I guess I can forgive you.”

For another fifteen minutes, Ada gives Happy, Toby, and Ralph clear and concise instructions related to the cake recipe, which she starts to call The Experiment, and they just get it in the oven when there’s a knock at their door.

“Ralph!” Paige calls. “Hey, honey, I’m back.”

Immediately, Ralph’s face lights up. “Mom!” he exclaims. He darts out of the room.

“In a couple years we’re going to have that,” Toby murmurs, just loud enough for only Happy to hear.

She feels herself turn a little pink, but she feels warm and safe and comfortable, ready for her life to meld with Toby’s into a whole new, tiny person. It’s the first she’s felt this confident about it, this comfortable with it.

“You guys are clearly having a moment,” Ada says, grinning at them knowingly, “I’ll talk to you later. My dad’s back, anyway, and apparently he’s got news.” With a wave, Ada disappears off camera.

“You guys have – what the hell happened?” Paige says as she walks in, looking horrified. “Did you guys blow up a can of chocolate syrup or something?”

“We were baking cake, Mom,” Ralph explains.

Paige sighs. “You decided you knew better than the manufacturers again, didn’t you.”

“He’s done this before?” Toby asks. “Kid, I’m sorry, but I’m not sure I’m going to hire you to bake my wedding cake.”

“It’s a rational decision,” Ralph decides.

Paige folds her arms, carefully avoiding all the marks of mess. “I swear, sometimes I wonder if I need to hire a babysitter to keep an eye on all three of you.”

Toby’s hands go up. “Hey,” he says, “I just got here. This is all on Happy.”

Ralph and Paige leave once she fills them all in on Sylvester’s progress on creating the Megan Dodd Pediatric Center’s study center, and then it’s just Happy and Toby alone in their apartment.

“So,” Toby says, as Happy steps toward him, “you’re making our wedding cake?”

She shrugs. “I figured I could give it a try,” she says. “Save a little money.”

“And lose about half of our kitchen,” Toby laughs. “What kind of cake were you thinking about?”

Happy sighs. “Take a wild guess.”

“Well, is it all chocolate? Chocolate with vanilla frosting? Marble?” He shakes his head. “There are many different options for cake flavors involving chocolate.”

“It was supposed to be double chocolate,” Happy replies. “Chocolate cake with chocolate chips. And chocolate frosting.” When Toby wrinkles her nose, Happy stares at him. “What? You don’t like chocolate?”

“That’s kind of coma-inducing chocolate, isn’t it?” he says. “I mean, come on. Too much dark chocolate gives me a tummy ache.”

“That’s because you’re getting old,” Happy says, poking him in the sternum.

Toby catches her hand and presses a kiss to the back of it, and Happy steps closer until his other hand is around her waist.

“We practicing for our first dance?” he asks, voice quiet.

“No,” Happy replies, “I’m just getting you just as covered in cake mix as I am.”

Toby sighs, looking a combination of annoyed and besotted. “Lovely.” He leans over and switches the tablet to music, putting on the playlist of his favorite songs. _I’ll Be_ comes on first, Toby’s favorite, and the smile on his face makes it clear Happy’s not going to have a say in their first song.

“ _I’ll be captivated,_ ” Toby sings, off key and a little weak, but he’s loving it. He spins her a little bit, and Happy watches puffs of cocoa powder and flour float into the air around her. He catches her hand against his chest as she turns to him again.

“ _Tell me that we belong together_ ,” he continues. She’s not too familiar with the song – her favorites back in her youth were more along the lines of Garbage, Iron Maiden, and Nirvana – but she’s heard it enough whenever Toby’s feeling particularly nostalgic.

“My senior prom played this song,” Toby murmurs, “but I didn’t have anybody like you to dance with.”

“Did you have anyone to dance with?” Happy asks, eyebrow quirked.

Toby narrows his eyebrows. “Since I wasn’t even a teenager, no,” he replies. “I went to help fundraise for debate club.”

“You must have gotten all the girls,” Happy laughs, and, when she leans into kiss him, she imagines a tiny Toby, standing around in a rented tux that was probably too big for him. She smiles against his lips, but the moment is broken a little bit when the song changes the tone in an instant.

“This song makes me think of you,” Toby says, smiling at her.

Happy frowns. “Should that make me nervous?”

Toby shakes his head. “It’s basically about how the girl is amazing and –” He pauses in time for the music to sing out the chorus, backed by heavy drums and guitars that sound almost like they’d settle better in Happy’s playlists. _Everything you are, falls from the sky like a star, everything you are, whatever ever you are._

“Okay,” Happy decides, “I can handle this being associated with me.”

“Good,” Toby says, his grin bright and broad, “because it’s Goo Goo Dolls.”

Happy’s expression drops. “What?!”

He bounces on his toes. “You like a Goo Goo Dolls song! I knew this day would come!”

Happy wants to argue, wants to claim coercion or false representation or something, but she can’t. “Oh, god,” she says, wrinkling her nose, “I like a Goo Goo Dolls song.”

“My little metal fan likes Goo Goo Dolls,” he singsongs. “Oh, man, next you’re going to listen to disco with me.”

“I am never,” Happy says, “going to like disco. You hear me?”

“Oh, certainly,” Toby replies, stepping over to the tablet, “I hear you.” He changes the song.

“Oh, for the love –”

“Sitting here eatin’ my heart out honey –”

Happy tries not to laugh as Toby breaks out some truly heinous dance moves, singing along with a warble that is beyond tragic. “It’s the 70’s, baby!” he exclaims.

“It is 2017, and you weren’t even born when this song came out,” Happy says, but it only takes a couple more notes before she’s dancing too, ignoring the mess in the kitchen.

And that’s when she smells something burning.

“The cake!” she exclaims. She grabs oven mitts and throws open the oven. “Oh, crap, we forgot to put on the timer.”

The cake looks okay in the middle, but the edges are charred and she’s pretty sure hard as a rock.

“Okay,” Toby says, frowning, “maybe you won’t make our wedding cake.”

Eventually they get the kitchen and themselves cleaned up, the kitchen not spotless but tolerable, and they take the parts of the cake that are edible to eat curled up in bed. Happy’s stopped worrying about crumbs since Toby insists they make the bed daily and change the sheets every week on Sundays, so if there are crumbs, they’ll be washed away tomorrow.

“You know,” Toby says, mouth full of cake and frosting he’s eating off a spoon, “this isn’t half bad for charred cake.”

“The part you’re eating is perfect and you know it,” Happy shoots back. She texts Ada and Ralph to let them know the cake was a success, minus the burning, and Ada texts back with a laughing emoji and, “Way to go, champ.” Ralph doesn’t respond, probably because Paige is insisting on keeping that 8pm bedtime, even on weekends.

“I can’t wait to get married,” Toby sighs.

Happy turns to him, mouth full. “Hmm?”

“I know we act like we are,” he continues, “have for a while, but,” he rubs at his ring finger on his left hand, “god, am I ready to wear that ring.” He kisses her temple. “To make this all official.”

Happy never thought she’d have this. Never thought she’d be with someone who loved her as much as she loved them. And then here’s Toby, eager sunshine always ready to make her smile. She’s not sure what to say, so she leans in and kisses his cheek. “Me, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Songs referenced include:  
> I'll Be - Edwin McCain  
> Dizzy - Goo Goo Dolls  
> Hot Stuff - Donna Summer


End file.
